IHS Markit has revised its estimates for Internet connected set-top boxes (STBs) in its Connected Devices intelligence service following an in-depth review on an operator-by-operator basis. More than 500m connected pay STBs are now forecast for year-end 2022 globally.

According to the latest consumer surveys from November 2018, when choosing video services in India, three in four connected consumers feel localized content is as important as price - especially the inclusion of local Indian content and the quality of subtitling and dubbing of foreign video content.

US telecommunications equipment maker CommScope will acquire Arris, in a $7.4B deal valued at $5.69 billion, with the difference comprised of CommScope’s assumption of Arris’s debt. As part of the deal, the Carlyle Group will make a $1M equity investment in CommScope for an approximate 16% stake in the new company.
CommScope’s CEO Eddie Edwards has claimed the two companies’ product lines are complementary, and that the combined company will “enable end-to-end wired and wireless communications infrastructure solutions that neither company could otherwise achieve on its own.”
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2019.

More than a third of video subscribers claim ultra-high-definition (UHD) content is an important criterion in their choice of video services, across five markets surveyed. Among households with both pay TV and online video subscriptions, that preference rises to 50 percent.

According to IHS Markit’s “Connected Devices and Media Consumption” survey conducted in April 2018, consumers who owned an existing Amazon device were also more likely to purchase further Amazon devices, use Amazon’s Prime Video service and engage with digital assistant Alexa. Amazon’s Fire Stick, specifically, was found to increase brand loyalty and engagement across services.

Display shipments for notebook PCs are forecast to increase by 5 percent in 2017 to 177 million units compared to the previous year, while notebook PC unit shipments are expected to remain flat during the same period.

IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO), a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions, today released findings from its Cross-Platform Television Viewing Time 2016 report, which analyzes TV consumption trends across the ‘big five’ European markets: France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.

Moving consumers to 4K or ultra-high definition (UHD) is shaping up to be a classic push marketing effort, with panel and device manufacturers, studios, and content providers aligned on the push side and a long line of hurdles to be surmounted before consumer demand can cross from niche to mainstream.

The production of Q (quarter) panels is an emerging business model for Chinese and Taiwanese tablet panel makers which shifts more of the panel production process to Chinese solution providers. Through this process, Jason Hsu, senior analyst in IHS, reports that both the panel maker and the solution provider benefit.